Originally Posted by
kevinabbot
I will be racing with Penn State (idk if they have tryouts or not). They have like 40-50 riders so at least a few have to be road even though I know Mountian/cyclocross will be more popular.
Also I was looking into the Emonda SL6 Pro and I really like that bike.
I raced in the ECCC back when I participated in collegiate cycling as a grad student.
There's likely no tryout, as it's a club sport, not a varsity sport. In my mind, the culture is better for it, as you can be as serious as you want.
In terms of racing, there are very few hilly races in the ECCC. Back when I did it, they were your home race (Black Moshanon), Shippensburg, USMA, MIT, and maybe Vermont/UNH. Of those, only Black Moshanon has climbs that take more than 15 minutes; all others have a 4-8 min-long hill, though the climb at USMA is slightly longer in duration.
Ride whatever you can afford to replace. Actual equipment isn't going to make a big difference.